Part 53: Can I Defeat Him Now?

"What am I even looking at?"

"One more reason to get the hell off this island."



"Yep, seen everything now."

"Do they taste good?"



"Sold! Let's get out of here!"

"Wait! Bikini sale!"

"Not asking any questions about that. Or why this backwater village of savages is the first place we've found an actual steel sword."



"About time you did something useful. We really could have used you in the Dwarf Mine."

A few minutes and one dungeon later...



"What!? Wait a minute, who the hell is this "Dark Prince"?

"Getting pretty sick of people I don't even know trying to kill me."

"That's not my problem… just like this volcano erupting isn't my problem."

"Oh, screw you old man!"



"It's that or hang around here. I'll take my chances with the giant turtle."



"Although with all the turtle slime, I may never feel clean again…"

"I'm just surprised he actually knew where the closest beach to Forcena is… I guess we should go ask King Richard about the rest of the stones."



"I only told you to get the spirit of Wind and then come back but.. eh, good enough I suppose. I was looking forward to seeing your faces when I told you about the Ghost Ship."

"You knew about that?"

"I have done this before, you know. Anyway, you'll have to get Booskaboo to take you around to find the others. They're in Altena, Navarre, the Beast Kingdom, and the Lampflower forest."

"So… we just have to sneak into the three nations that are causing all of the conflict in the world and who are all out to get the Mana Stones for themselves?"

"And who's Booskaboo?"

"The turtle that took you from Bucca. I like to think he's the pet turtle I had as a boy that my mother set free when he got too big for his tank, but I have to admit that it's pretty unlikely. Still, he comes to the sound of this flute…you can have it."

"Uh… thanks for the flute?



"Trust me, we're not likely to forget."

"So where do we go to first?"

"The desert… definitely the desert."

"Really? I'd think that you'd want to go home first… it's definitely been a while."

"I have some plans about that… and visiting the desert comes first."



"So you guys are actually doing something while we're out saving the world… appreciate the help."

"Yeah, guarding the castle is mostly what we do with the ones you can't hack it outside… although that really has bitten us in the ass lately."



"It's your lucky day today! Now, what's on tap?"

"Cactus juice and tequila."

"There's no way this can end well…"



"Wait a minute… aren't you the guy we rode with the last few times?"

"That be me… could really have used your help on that last voyage."

"We'd much rather have been on your boat, but I guess it all worked out."



"That guy again? I wonder if the little thief is with him.."

"Probably. I'm starting to think he's pulling our leg about this girl he wants to rescue."

"Only way to find out is in the desert."

"D'you want to class change before you do that?"

"Wait, we can do that? The Priest of Light said we'd have to be much older…"

"He's kind of full of crap. We just need to find a Mana Stone. I think the Wind Mana Stone is the easiest to get to.."

"Summon the turtle!"



"I can't believe this is finally happening… will I be strong enough to beat that wizard after this?"

"I can't tell you for sure, but it'll certainly help. Now, you have a choice to make…shields or no shields?"



"Shields are for pussies!"




The other transformations go as voted on. One thing about the class changes is that in general they make spell casting items much more effective. Poto Oil and similar items take the user's stats into consideration when they're used, and in the case of Poto Oil this means that Duran goes from healing 40 or so HP to everybody when he uses one to healing around 150 HP. It's enough to make it worthwhile to put a few points into non-prime stats if you're going to be making heavy use of items.



For reference, our status screen with all of the new class artwork.



This class change gives both Duran and Gene a nearly identical whirlwind attack, which can be a bit confusing if you're not paying attention. The first time that they were used back to back I thought that there'd been some kind of weird game glitch. As for Angela's attack… well, that one's something special. We'll get to that as we get back to the plot. Speaking of which...



"Stupid girl… you're not cursed anymore, so look alive!"

"Huh… I guess there is a girl. We might have been a bit wrong about Hawk."

"What!? You people again? Why the hell are you following me everywhere I go?"

"It's purely by accident… I'm still not really all that sure who you are."

"Although we do kind of owe you for sending that vampire after us on Bucca Island. I don't even know how he knew to find us there."

"Bill, Ben… this is your last chance to prove yourselves. Guard the entrance!"



"This is as far as you go.

"This won't be like last time! We'll show you our dark power…"

"I dunno, guys… this is sounding awfully familiar…"

"Fusion!!"

"Oh, fuck me. You two are full of shit, this is exactly like last time!"



"I've got this, guys! Quick, get'em while they're distracted by me shaking the goods at them!"

"This might be the least dignified battle I've ever participated in…"

"Let's just forget this ever happened and hurry to the Mana Stone."



"Don't come any closer… or the girl goes into the flames!"

"Why are you even hauling her around, anyway?"

"Partially habit, partially saving her for a special occasion."



"We'll see about that!"

"Hahaha… I see you brought company! Well… until next time!"

"You.. you have a dart literally sticking out of your head. Doesn't that hurt?"

"You get used to it. Bye now!"

"Is she all right?"

"The necklace is gone. The curse must have left her weak, though…"



"Can we kill her this time?"

"What? Oh… sure, knock yourselves out."

"Why is it that overtime we see you, all you do is ask us to do something for you?"



"Pity I couldn't use Jessica's soul to do it… I had to use Bill's and Ben's…"

"So there's a human sacrifice every time you activate one of these things? Who the hell have you been using up until now?"

"Random hobos, mostly. I figured that there'd be an extra special kick from sacrificing the girl in her home country."

"I'm so glad that we don't have to hold back from killing you now."

"And I'm glad I'm not going to stick around and let you try."



"Just like in Altena… it seems that everyone is after the Sword of Mana…"

"If the Sword falls into the wrong hands… there would be another worldwide catastrophe!"

"I'm starting to get the feeling that this world lurches from catastrophe to catastrophe like a drunken sailor."

"Not far from the truth… is having three groups going after the sword at the exact same time a common occurrence?"

"It seems like these things do come in clusters… we're just lucky it's not about six."

"At that point they'd all be too split up to be a serious threat."



"Whatever. Just pile on in with the rest. I'm done with this lava filled hell pit."



"You've got no idea. Just keep'em coming until we're not dried out or the money dries up."

"You're really starting to get into the spirit of this trip."

"At this point I think it's about the only reasonable reaction. Three to go!"



"Don't worry about it… if we run into that bitch again, we'll take care of her. Either that or she'll get axed by one of the other people going for the sword. I think you should just hang out here."

"This is the last freebie we're gonna do for ya, though. If you want anything else, you'd better give us a reason to help you."



"Hey Duran… weren't we going to Altena next?"

"Yep. Still are."

"Then why are we sailing south?"

"Because it's the fastest way north, obviously. Don't you know anything about sailing?"

"We've really got to stop letting him drink and sail."



"Everybody keeps saying that…I don't get it myself. You'd think that when times are rough more people would be coming to the bar."

"It's a good thing that we were able to work single-handedly saving the bar industry into our epic quest."



"Hey Angela, didn't you say that you nearly froze your ass off last time you were here?"



"That was then, and this is now. Fire magic is a wonderful thing."

"I guess your outfit made it a lot easier to visit the desert without ice magic.

"Gee, that doesn't sound like a complaint."

"I could used some ice magic… it's pretty hot being a wolf in the desert."



"…Give up. We're already well on our way to entering the Holyland…"

"Whatever… I just want to fight you. You're a knight I haven't gotten a chance to beat yet, and I can't let that stand."

"… and the Sword of Mana will be a sacrifice to our great leader, the Dragon Emperor!"

"The Dragon Emperor!? My father died to defeat the Dragon Emperor, years ago!"



"!? How did you know my name? Who the hell are you!?"

"Someone who'll be leaving now."

"Dammit, come back here and tell me!"

"Now you know how I felt the first time we were in Forcena."

"C'mon, let's bust up some robots. That'll make all of us feel better."

"…Maybe."



Having three team members with multi-target specials to draw counters can be a bit rough in this particular battle. I finally had to break down and disable their second level techniques for this fight. Battle Video, for the curious. On the second try, though…



"Maybe it wasn't completely for nothing? Maybe he hurt him so badly that he hasn't been able to cause trouble for an entire decade."

"It still means that he died without accomplishing his goal… and eventually left me and my sister alone because of it."

"The upside is that it means you can find the monster that killed your father and prove yourself by defeating it. Can't ask for much more than that."

"If we're done, can we get to the Mana Stone? I think it's pretty close… and in the direction that knight went."



"But… wait a minute… Won't that make it easier for us to get to the Holyland?"

"What if we just wait for the Altenans to open the gate? Can we still get in before them?"

"That's a bit brighter than some of the options people might come up with, but it won't work. They don't really care one way or another if the Holyland is a smoking ruin on the other side of the gate as long as they can get through. I'd like to avoid that."

"Fair enough."



"Y'know, we can talk about the other people who are trying to open the gate sometimes too. It doesn't just have to be about the Altenans."

"You're so right! It's so unfair the way everybody picks on the people around here!"



"Another one… great. Is there anywhere we can stick these things besides in my head? Maybe some kind of small ball that I can crack open when we need them?"

"You can ask the Mana Goddess about that when we get to the Holyland."